5 Steps to Growing the Perfect Peppers

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5 Steps to
growing the perfect peppers

Gardening can often be overwhelming. Especially when you plan on investing so much of your time towards creating the perfect garden. With so many different kinds of plants, each with their own needs and weaknesses you want to make sure you get as much right as possible. 

So, when it comes to peppers here are 5 proven steps for growing the healthiest peppers.




Step 1: Finding the Right Seeds

The first step to any successful garden is choosing the right seeds. Often one of the most enjoyable parts is picking out all the different varieties of seeds from bright ornamentals to sweet grilling peppers, and everything in between. Ensuring you buy healthy seeds and not random diseased seeds will ensure your garden thrives all summer.

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When you buy from Champion Seeds you are ensuring you not only receive the exact seeds you order, but you are also receiving the healthiest, organic, hand-sorted seeds available.

Step 2: Germination Procedure

Germinating is, for some of us, the most stressful part. You’ve done your research and ordered your seeds, but you’re afraid they wont grow. Luckily for you, you’ve ordered from Champion Seeds and the 20 seeds will more than guarantee that you have enough happy seedlings going into the growing season.

In order to properly germinate your seeds, either plant under moist soil or follow our in-depth guide on the Paper Towel Method. A neat trick that will ensure you plant only the healthiest seedlings.

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Germinating seeds doesn’t have to be scary or even risky, and with some practice, anyone can get upwards of 95% germination rates!

Step 3: Caring For Seedlings

When they first emerge out of the ground, the seedlings are very fragile, vulnerable and run the risk of dying off quite suddenly. 


 An important tip to remember is not to overwater your seedlings. It can be very tempting (I’ve been there) to constantly check up on your little plant babies and kill them with love and over watering.
Just remember to lightly water once a day keeping an eye on the moisture of the soil.
You don’t want it to dry out completely or remain damp 24/7.

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Keep your seedlings close to a light source to prevent them from becoming leggy. A process in which they become quite tall, (1 to 2 inches). This is most common when growing on a windowsill. If you are using a grow light simply lower the light.
Be careful not to put it too low, which may burn them, however the symptoms of this are quite noticeable and easy to fix.

Step 4: Early Pruning and Potting Up

Once your seedlings are around 2 inches, you are in the clear. From this point on its a lot harder to kill off these guys, but not impossible. What you want to do now is pot-up these plants, allowing their roots to expand which allows the plant to grow.
Be careful so that you only Pot-Up peppers 2-3 times.

From Seedling --> Small container --> To Final destination

I like to plant the seedlings into small plastic containers, although red solo cups are extremely popular for re-potting peppers.
Whatever you choose ensure it is around the same size as a Red Solo Cup or larger.

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Like I mentioned in my earlier Blog topping peppers once they reach 1 foot can really help produce bushier plants. By topping peppers you make it easier to grow them indoors.

Step 5: Hardening Off and Planting Outside

Finally hardening off, this step often confuses a lot of people and tends to claim a lot of poor pepper lives. Hardening off is the concept of slowly acclimatizing pepper plants to sunlight and outdoor temperature.

Some people rush their plants outside without much care, and while some may survive you will almost certainly suffer some losses to the sudden change in environment. Those that do survive may be permanently shocked from the sudden change, stunting their growth.

What I recommend is slowly bringing your peppers outside once the weather reaches at least 65’f or 16’c. Slowly increasing the amount of time they are left outdoors.

Keep in mind if grown under a grow light the peppers are becoming accustomed to both the Temperature AND the Sunlight specifically UV rays.

Peppers should ideally be around 6-8 inches to do this.
Some people acclimatize their peppers to sunlight first, as that can be performed whenever.

On the first day try bringing your peppers outside into the shade for around 1 hour.
Followed by shade the next day for 2 hours.

It is important to keep an eye on your peppers as they may begin to wilt and drop leaves, this isn’t the end of the word so do not panic. Peppers are very resilient and will almost certainly grow back fine, this is a very mild shock.

On the third day, you can try to introduce them to indirect sunlight.

By the end of the first week, it is possible to begin putting them in the sunlight for small amounts of time. Remember peppers sometimes wilt in the sun even during summer.

In total it should take about 10 days to slowly acclimatize your peppers to the outside temperature, just be careful not to get too hasty and rush all your peppers outside. All your hard work will be for nothing.

Get Planning Now

Follow these 5 steps and guarantee yourself the best chance for a full garden!
Let us know if you have any questions about what was covered in this article.

You can contact us on social media, in any of the links on the left-hand side.

As well, feel free to check out our Etsy, also linked on the left hand side, where we sell organic high quality pepper seeds.

Happy Planting!

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